Sliding door track assembly



Oct. 30, 1962 D. w. BLACKMER- 3,060,489

SLIDING DOOR TRACK ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 5, 1959 INV EN TOR.

nited States atent 3,060,489 SLIDING DOOR TRACK ASSEMBLY Dwight W.Blackmer, Elkhart, Ind., assignor, by mesne assignments, to EkcoProducts Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 5,1959, Ser. No. 851,071 3 Claims. (Cl. 16-94) This invention relates to adouble track assembly for sliding closure installations wherein one of apair f closures is suspended for sliding movement in 'a first overheadtrack by means or a roller type hanger secured along the top edge of theclosure, and the other closure is suitably suspended for slidingmovement in a second overhead track into a position in overlappingrelation to the closure which slides on the first track when theclosures are in fully open position.

Since standard type closures, such as windows and doors, will vary inthickness in a range as great as to 1%", allowance must be made for suchvariation in order to maintain proper clearance between the path of eachclosure relative to the other. To meet this condition, it has beennecessary for manufacturers of sliding door accessories to provideroller type hangers having the roller equipped end in a variety ofoffset positions to the section of the hanger which is fastened to thedoor. Thus as many as four styles of hangers were supplied as extraparts to accommodate such variation in door dimensions.

The present invention contemplates a track assembly wherein the trackdefining the path of one door is adjustable toward and away from thetrack defining the path of the other door in increments of distancewhich makes it possible to accommodate the full range of variation instandard door thicknesses with aid of only two styles of hangers.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a trackassembly which can be adjusted to establish the necessary clearance forby-passing sliding doors within limits utilizing only a minimum varietyof hangers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a track assembly of thecharacter indicated which is relatively simple in construction and whichincorporates features of design and assembly to facilitate itsinstallation, maintenance and use.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improvedsliding door track assembly as indicated that is easily and economicallyproduced and which is highly eiiicient on operation.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists in thedetails of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fullyunderstood from the following description, when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a broken perspective view of a sliding closure installationincluding a track assembly incorporating the features of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view with parts in elevation showingtrack members in closer adjusted position than in FIG. 1 and usinghangers of two styles.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, with parts in elevation,illustrating a track assembly in accordance with this invention, withslight modification in the form of the track members, and using hangerssimilar to those shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.4.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-3 thereof, oneembodiment of a track assembly in accordance with the present inventionis shown in a slidin which the doors 10 and 11 operate.

ing door installation including a first door 10 and a second door 11.Reference numeral 12 designates a hanger secured by screws 13 to thedoor 10. A roller 14 is supported by the hanger for rotation in :a pathin upwardly spaced relation to the door 10. A roller 15 is mounted onsimilar hangers 16 secured to the door 11 by means of screws 17. Asecond roller hanger assembly (not shown) secured to the door 10cooperates with the roller 14 and hanger 12 to provide a pair of rollerhanger assemblies. Likewise, a second roller hanger assembly (not shown)secured to the door 11 cooperates with the roller 15 and hanger 16 toprovide a pair of roller hanger.

assemblies. In FIG. 2, the doors 10 and 11 are of lesser thickness thanthe doors 10 and 11 shown in FIG. 1. Hanger 12 secured to door 10 isaccordingly offset a greater distance than the corresponding offset inhanger 16 on door 11 to establish the rollers 14 and 15 nearer than saidrollers are spaced as to doors 10 and 11 in FIG. 1.

In accordance with the present invention, the roller 14 of each rollerhanger assembly secured to door 10 rides in a channel 18 along the loweredge of a track member 19 while the roller 15 of each hanger assemblysecured to door 11 rides in a channel 20 along the lower edge of asecond track member 21. The track member 19 is provided along its upperedge with a horizontal web 22 extending in the direction of the trackmember 21. Track member 21 is similarly provided along its upper edgewith a horizontal web 23 extending in the direction of the track member19. As shown in the drawings, the web 22 of track member 19 and the web23 of track member 21 are of such horizontal dimension as to haveoverlapping engagement along a major portion of the area between saidtrack members so as to allow said webs to maintain an overlappedrelationship while allowing the space between the channels 1 8 and 20 ofthe respective track members 19 and 21 to be varied along lines parallelto said channels in accordance with the space required for properclearance between doors of different thickness. The adaptability of theWebs 22 and 23 to so maintain this overlapped relationship under varyingconditions of spacing of the rollers on door 10 relative to the rollerson door 11 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A slot 24 is provided in the web 22 of track member 19, forming one of aseries of slots (not shown) at selected distances apart along the lengthof the track member 19, and an opening 25 in the web 23 of the trackmember 21 forming one of a series of openings (not shown) at distancesapart along the length of the track member in registry with the slots 24in the track member 19, cooperate with a screw 26 projectingtherethrough for securing said track members 19 and 21 in fixed relation to a header 27 of the upper limits of the opening Each slot 24,having its longest dimension arranged crosswise of the distance betweensaid track members, accordingly allows the web containing such slot tobe moved toward and away from the track member having the web 23 withina range determined by the length of said slot 24, Whereby theoverlapping relation of said webs 22 and 23 may be selected inconformity with the desired spacing between the channels 18 and 20 ofthe respective track members, and locked in such selected overlappingrelation by means of the screw 26 which likewise anchors the trackmembers 19 and 21 to the header 27.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lip 28 formed integrally with web 22 andextending therefrom in the direction of channel 18 provides anobstruction with which the roller 14 has engagement to trap the latteragainst accidental Withdrawal from the channel 18 without interferingwith smooth operation of the roller 14 in said channel. A

similar lip 29 is formed integrally with and along the edge of anextension of the web 23 of track number 21 to prevent accidentalwithdrawal of the roller from channel 20.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the Web 23 of track member 21, and theextension of web 23, have recesses 30, 31 and 32 spaced apart along theline of adjustment of said track members 19 and 21 at locations inagreement with three selected adjusted positions of said track membersfor selective occupancy by a projection 33 on web 22 of track member 19.Accurate location of the web 22 in selected adjusted relation to web 23at successive increments of distance between the channels 18 and isaccordingly facilitated by such interengagement of the projection 33with a selected one of recesses 30, 31 and 32 while said track members19 and 21 are in process of assembly in fixed relation in that the trackmembers are thereby temporarily immobilized pending final installationon the header 27 via the screw 26.

The modified form of track members construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5includes track members 35 and 36 of stamped metal construction. A slot37 formed in the web 38 of track member 35 and a slot 39 formed in theweb 40 of track member 36 cooperate with a screw 41 secured to theheader 27 to establish a fixed relationship of said track members 35 and36 in which the channels 42 and 43 of said track members 35 and 36respectively are at a selected distance apart compatible with thedimension of doors 44 and 45 and the desired clearance between the pathsof said doors. It will be noted that in this modified form ofconstruction, the web 40 of track member 36 is joined to the innermostwall of the channel 42 by a horizontal leg 46 and a downwardly offsetbead 47 at the junction between the web 40 and the leg 46. Bead 47presents a downwardly and inwardly facing obstruction with which theroller 15 in channel 43 has engagement to prevent accidental removal ofthe roller from said channel. A bead 48 llkewise formed in the web 38 oftrack member 35 serves the same purpose in relation to roller 14 inchannel 42 of track member 35. As shown in FIG. 4, the portion of web 38eX- tending from the bead 48 in the direction of track member 36 isoffset downwardly so as to have entrance to the area or space defined bythe interfacing surfaces of the web 40 and leg 46 of the track member36, when such entry is needed to accommodate spacing of the trackmembers at a minimum distance apart. As shown in FIG. 5, depressions 49and 50 and 51 formed in the downwardly olfset portion of web 38 andprojection 52 formed in the web 40 of track member 36 cooperate toaccurately maintain the track members 35 and 36 in temporarilyimmobilized relation in the same manner as such action is obtained viacooperating recesses 30, 31 and 32 and projection 33 as shown in thetrack assembly illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

While specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application thereof in varioussliding door installations, it will be understood that the invention maybe embodied otherwise without departing from the spirit of thisinvention commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A track assembly for sliding closure installations including a firsttrack member and a second track member, each of said track membershaving an upwardly open channel along the lower edge thereof andinterengaging means for securing said track members to an overheadsupport with the channels of said track members in fixed spaced parallelrelation at a selected distance apart, including a horizontallyextending web on said first track member in overhead relation to thearea between said first and second track members, and a horizontallyextending web on said second track member overlapping and resting uponan upwardly facing surface portion of the web on the first track member.

2. A track assembly for sliding door installations in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said interengaging means includes a fastener extendingthrough aligned openings in overlapping areas of said webs and anchoredin said overhead support.

3. A track assembly for sliding door installations in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said interengaging means includes first and secondrecesses provided in one of said webs in spaced apart relation along aline on which said track members are adjustable toward and away fromeach other, and projection is provided in the other of said webs forselective occupancy in said recesses in the other web to establish aselected distance of separation between said track members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,328,442 McBride Ian. 20, 1920 2,726,420 Kemp Dec. 13, 1955 2,796,626Gussack June 25, 1957 2,898,623 Johnson Aug. 11, 1959 2,904,848Lieberenz Sept. 22, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,954 Belgium Nov. 14, 1956

